Amelia Weaver, my great grandmother was born on April 15, 1835
in Loudoun County, Virginia, in the area around Snickersville, to Lewis Weaver
and his wife Delia, known as "Neely". I do not know Delia's
maiden name, or much about either of them for they were slaves.

What I do know was passed down as an oral tradition in my
family, and much of my research in Loudoun county is now focused on learning
more about my Weaver line. Slowly, but surely, I am making progress.

According to family oral history, she learned her skills as a
midwife from her mother, and had a great knowledge of healing herbs and
remedies. Access to doctors was limited for slaves, and Milly did a lot of
the doctoring in the area.

She learned to boil all of her midwifery tools, and also
boiled and baked all of the clothes she wore to a birthing both before and after
attending. This was in a time period when infant mortality rates were
quite high, and medical doctors knew little about sterile conditions.
After her marriage in 1865 to Presley Roberts,
a stone mason who had been recently freed from slavery, she started her
own family. Because she didn't trust doctors, or many other midwives, Milly
birthed all her own children and raised 7 healthy children to adulthood.

Have had a hard time researching the Weaver family and
am still not sure how they are related.

My great grandmother's brother was Dennis Weaver. He
served in the Civil War, and received a pension. After his death,. his
wife Delia Fields Weaver also received his pension.

Maria Weaver, her sister, married Richard Jackson,
brother of George Jackson in the slave
narrative.

Dennis and Robert Weaver had land right next to each
other. Robert's mother is listed as Evaline Weaver when he married
Isabelle Randoph from Clarke County VA, in Loudoun.

I believe that Robert was a first cousin to Dennis, Amelia
and Maria - am now trying to make the connections.

Another related Weaver - but not clear how, is an older Maria
Weaver, wife of an unknown Weaver. When her son Thomas was married, in
1867, my great great grandfather Lewis Weaver proved his age.

GOING BEHIND THE "BRICK WALL" OF
SLAVERY

In order for me to begin to piece together the Weaver
family and relationships - some will have to be speculative at this point.
I have collected information on all the Weaver family units in the small
community outside of Snickersville up on the mountainside, because my older
relatives have told me that "everyone up on the hillside was related - if
not by blood then by marriage".

In order to find my family history, I must become very
familiar with the families of the slaveholders - their marriages, cousins and
other relations - because my family was passed from one branch of a slaveholders
family to another.

Slaveholder John BEAVERS died at age 87 in about 1858 in
Loudoun County, but 14 years prior to his death on
May 4th 1844
, he assigned several slaves to his wife Margaret (in an agreement drawn up with
Bushrod OSBURN).

They were a Maria WEAVER and her 3 children; Lucinda,
Tom and Martha Ann.

It stated "the following slaves to wit, Negro
Maria, commonly called Maria Weaver, and her three children, Martha Ann aged
about seven years, Lucinda aged about four years and Thomas aged about two years
together with the future increase of the family of them."

I

I believe this Maria WEAVER was the sister-in
law of my gr gr grandfather Lewis WEAVER. Lewis and
Delia named their daughter Maria, and given family naming
patterns, she was probably named for the Maria WEAVER in the
document above.

After John BEAVERS died, his wife Margaret came down
with consumption (Loudoun County Death Register, 1853-1896, Frain & Hiatt)
and died in 1859. Prior to her death drew up her will, dated 7th day
of November 1859 and signed “her mark”.

The will included a list of items:

Item 1st: I give to Milton VB Waltman my servant boy Tom
and my servant girl Lucinda, also one set of silver teas spoons in
absolute right

Item 2nd:I give to Margaret B
Allen, wife of Edmund Allen my servant girl Mary Ann (this is Martha Ann)
during her natural life & then to her children.

Item 3rd:I give to Jane Ann
Allen daughter of Edmund Allen my servant girl Amanda, also any part of
my property she may select to the value of one hundred dollars, also one set of
silver tea spoons in absolute right.

Item 5th: I give to John W Allen, son of Edmund Allen,
my servant woman Maria in absolute right.

She goes on to give other bequests of money etc.

I am attempting to decipher the family tree of the BEAVERS, to go back
earlier and identify who owned the father of Maria’s children, and to trace
what happened between to the family between 1859 and emancipation. I
am unclear where she is in 1870.It
is possible that she is Mary TURNERage
45

, in
Charleston
,
Kanawha
,
West Virginia
(where the Allen’s had been in 1860.

She is widowed by 1880 and living with her son Thomas
Weaver in Loudoun, listed as Maria TURNER. (not to be confused with another
Maria Turner found in Loudoun with husband Richard)

I am now trying to figure out how they are all related
to Margaret BEAVERS.

Margaret Beavers maiden name was VAN BUSKIRK.According to family trees found on ancestry.com her parents were Abraham
VAN BUSKIRK and Ann COCHRAN.They
had several children, among them a Sarah, who married George Jacob WALTMAN.

George and Sarah WALTMAN are listed as the parents of Milton Van Buskirk
WALTMAN. Margaret BEAVERS made
him her executor - and gave him Maria’s children, Tom & Lucinda Weaver.

He is listed in both the slave schedules and the census
for Loudoun in 1860:

There
are several other entries in the birth records - with a mother “Maria” owned
by John BEAVERS but it is still unclear if this is John Sr. or John Jr.or if it is the same Maria.The
BEAVERS son John also owned slaves who are part of another branch of my family -
surnamed TATE